Harold Finch
(Presumed dead) | age = | born = | death = | occupation = Software-engineer Billionaire | affiliation = | title = | family = Grace - Fiancée Brothers (Unknown number, presumably older) | residence = New York, NY, USA | portrayer = Michael Emerson | portrayer2 = | first = | last = | flashbacks = }} Finch, also known as Harold Wren, is a billionaire and software-genius who built a machine that predicts future crimes and outputs either the victim's or perpetrator's Social Security number. Biography 1976 Finch's earliest records list him as "Harold Wren." He attended MIT along with classmate Nathan Ingram. 1994 Finch founds IFT, along with his friend Ingram. 2001 Following the attack on the World Trade Centre, the American government hires "Nathan" to build a machine that would predict future mass attacks on the United States, using coverage of cameras and access to personal information. 2002 On June 10, in an abandoned IFT office floor, Finch is building an early version of the Machine, which consists of government feeds from the NSA, including mail, phone calls and surveillance cameras. This prototype covers only New York, and Finch, along with Ingram, intends on teaching the Machine how to sort the criminals from the civilians. 2006 Finch meets Grace, a magazine illustrator, and the two soon become a couple. At some point before 2009, they get engaged. 2007 At the same abandoned office floor from five years ago, Ingram confronts Finch about the Machine's way of sorting crimes - focusing on the mass-terror threats, while labelling smaller crimes as "irrelevant," and deleting them every night at midnight. Finch claims they built the Machine not to save "someone," but rather "everyone." 2009-2010 Finch is involved in an accident and fakes his death, leaving Grace behind. According to him, he faked his death to protect Grace from the people who know of the Machine. Unbeknownst to her, Finch started watching her from afar, and sending her magazines, According to X-rays analyzed by Megan Tillman, Finch had a spinal fusion surgery as a result of his injury during this time period, possibly due to the accident. Additionally, Ingram passes away due to unknown reasons in 2010. 2011 After quitting the government and faking his death, Finch uses a back-door in the Machine that allows him to access the list of the "irrelevant" crimes, which was installed by Ingram. To avoid attention, Finch can only access the Social Security number of a person involved in the crime, though it is unknown if it is the victim or the perpetrator. February After many failed attempts at saving the "irrelevant" victims, Finch, bound to a wheelchair, tracks John Reese, a former CIA agent, with ties to one of the "irrelevant" victims. Finch help Reese sneak out of a police station after a subway brawl, and hires him to spy after every possible victim the Machine supplies, and prevent or save them from the upcoming attack. After Reese discovers Finch's employment at IFT, Finch quits his job without any notice. 2012 May While assisting in the rescue of a person of interest, Finch is kidnapped by Root. Notes *His aliases are often associated with birds, as shown with Finch, Partridge, Wren, Crane and Crow. *On a few occasions, Finch mentions that he previously lost someone. *When asked why he tries to save people he states, "I have my reasons." *After searching all known databases, the Machine recognizes Finch as UNKNOWN. It makes a note to check additional databases. The Machine later recognizes Finch as SYSADMIN at the end of the episode "Wolf and Cub" when Reese and Fusco are discussing him. *Showed knowledge of ranging and windage when asked by Reese to spot him while he shot the hood off a car. *As Norman Burdett, he works as a paralegal at Marmostein Ribner. His phone number is listed as (917) 555-0131. *As Harold Wren, he works at Universal Heritage Insurance. The address is 930 W 57th Street, Suite (unknown), New York, NY, 10019. The phone number is (202) 555-0112. *As Harold Crow, he works as a private investigator. His business address is 920 E 68th Street, Suite 500, New York, NY, 10065. The phone number is (212) 555-0179. *His current alias "Harold Finch" has only been mentioned once so far, by Alicia Corwin . He is usually called either "Finch" or "Harold", or uses a different alias. *Other nicknames include "Mr.Glasses" (Fusco, ), "imaginary friend" (Zoe Morgan, ) "tech support" (Nathan Ingram , Reese ) Trivia *Collects rare books (first editions),180 gram vinyl records and Xerox Alto computers (when he can get one). *Doesn't drink coffee. He prefers Sencha green tea (with one sugar). Category:Main Characters